Best of 2024

The Five-Star Books and New Releases I Read This Year

As the chapter closes on 2024, I am revisiting all the books I rated five stars this year, as well as the new releases I read. While personally a difficult year for me, 2024 was a standout twelve months of reading. I gave five stars to over a quarter of the books I read, some of which have made my list of all-time favorites. In the following review, I will first deep-dive into my five-star books of the year, some published in 2024, most not. Subsequently, I will rank all the 2024 publications I read with brief commentary on why I felt they were a must-read or best left on the shelf.

1 | Daughters of Shandong

Eve J. Chung

After the Communist takeover of China in 1949, eleven-year-old Hai’s grandmother, father, and other male relatives flee to escape government retribution on Nationalist landowners. Deemed not important enough to take with them, Hai, her mother, and her sisters are abandoned and left to their own defenses. As the eldest daughter of a landowner, Hai is forced by the new communist council to accept punishment in her father’s place – a cruel beating she barely survives. Hai, her mother, and her sisters set out on a journey to rejoin their father and end up following his trail to Taiwan. Along the way, Hai recognizes her lowly position as a female in a patriarchal Confucian society and discovers within herself a refusal to accept her assigned lot in life.

Daughters of Shandong is a hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking novel based on the life of author Eve J. Chung’s grandmother. Set against the historical backdrop of the birth of Communist China, the heart of this story is the tragic plight of women in all rungs of an overbearingly patriarchal society which treats them merely as property. Worst of all is how ingrained the belief men inherently have more value that even women who have experienced the effects of such subjugation perpetuate this debasement onto other women. Eve J. Chung astutely concludes that one person may not possess the ability to completely break free from generations of oppression and trauma, but she can pave the way for future generations by making small changes and creating opportunities for those who come after her.

2 | We Were the Lucky Ones

Georgia Hunter

When the Nazis invade Poland in 1939, the Jewish Kurc family brace for intensified persecution in the city of Radom and begin making plans for survival during a time of chaos. Soon, members of the extensive family find themselves scattered all over the world, from separately occupied parts of Poland to France and Siberia, to Brazil, Palestine, and Italy. Parents, siblings, and spouses are torn apart, forced spend the years of war often with no knowledge of where their loved ones are or whether they are safe. The Kurcs use their wits and take extraordinary risks while enduring grueling hardships as they fight to stay alive through the worst genocide the world has witnessed in hopes of one day being reunited.

Based on the true events of the lives of author Georgia Hunter’s grandfather and his parents and siblings, this fictionalized novel recounts the remarkable survival of the Kurc family during the Holocaust. This is not the typical tale of Jews passively being rounded up and sent their deaths on cattle cars bound for concentration camps. This is a story of the resilience and ingenuity – and in some cases, luck – of a family who refused to quietly comply with the prescribed fate of their race. Most of all, this novel is a message of hope that with loved ones to lean on, one can persevere through the worst of inhumanity and emerge triumphant and stronger than ever.

Recently, We Were the Lucky Ones was adapted into a Hulu miniseries. I watched the series before I was aware of the book’s existence. Shortly after finishing the powerful drama, I downloaded the soundtrack on iTunes and hunted down a copy of the novel. I was pleasantly surprised that the television series was largely faithful to the source material. Listening to the instrumental score while reading the novel invoked a flood of emotions which further immersed me into the epic narrative of these five siblings, their spouses, and their parents, grieving the people they’d lost and finding one another after years of tumultuous separation.

3 | A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power

Paul Fischer

Before he became known as the “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong-Il – son of the “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung and father of the current Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un – ran the North Korean Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Obsessed with movies, he aspired to build up the artless, philistine film industry in North Korea but was lacking in talent. In 1978, his solution was to kidnap South Korea’s star actress, Choi Eun-Hee, and her ex-husband, South Korea’s most famous filmmaker, Shin Sang-Ok. Together, they would launch a new era of North Korean cinema. Under Kim Jong-Il’s orders, the estranged couple was reunited and forcibly remarried. They embarked on producing a set of new films under the supervision of the future Dear Leader, all the while secretly plotting their escape and return to South Korea.

A lighter story than most I’ve read involving North Korea, this fascinating real-life account of the kidnapping and escape of Choi Eun-Hee and Shin Sang-Ok is at times a harrowing thriller, at others a comical farce and a disturbing glimpse into the harsh, enigmatic world of North Korea. It is also a heartrending tale of separated lovers reunited by outrageous circumstances who find new meaning in their lives during their captivity and who must rely on one another in their plight for survival.

4 | Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution’s Women

Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, E. Knight

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, seven women from all walks of life – from Bourbon princess to peasant, from politician and philosopher’s wives to harlot and assassin – become swept up in the fight for independence and the end of the French monarchy. As the Reign of Terror rages on and the political climate grows increasingly radical, even the moderates who support the revolution meet their demise under the blade of Madame Guillotine. Few among them are left standing amid the ruins of the nation and the blood spilled for an unattainable ideology.

This historical work of fiction showcases an interesting collaborative approach to storytelling. Six female authors each take on the narrative of a real-life historical woman who was witness to or participant in the French Revolution and seamlessly weave their stories into one cohesive tale. This ambitious undertaking is highly successful in my opinion and serves to give each character a unique voice in a way a single author could not easily replicate. The authoresses of Ribbons of Scarlet breathe life into the accounts of seven women – some more well-known than others – who, despite moments of elevated status and power, were all sidelined to the footnotes of history by their male counterparts and fell prey to a patriarchal nation which supported fraternity, liberty, and equality for men but was not quite ready for sorority, liberty, and equality for women.

5 | White Chrysanthemum

Mary Lynn Bracht

In 1943 Korea, sisters Hana and Emi live on Jeju Island under Japanese occupation. Hana is a haenyeo, a female sea diver. One day while diving, she sees Japanese soldiers on the beach approaching Emi. Hana hides her younger sister to save her from the soldiers. She is herself abducted and transported to Manchuria to become a “comfort woman” – a sexual slave to the Japanese military. Emi grows up in war-ravaged Korea and for years tries to forget her older sister’s sacrifice. As the nation begins healing half a century later, Emi decides to confront the reality of what likely happened to Hana in a personal quest for absolution. She becomes determined to uncover the truth and not allow her sister’s story and the stories of hundreds of thousands of other comfort women to be forgotten.

This novel was a tough but rewarding read for me. By choosing to read so much about eras of great upheaval and war, I have inevitably encountered a fair number of fictional and non-fictional accounts of rape. While I’ve understood rape is always a topic which could emerge in the books I read, this is one of the few instances I picked up a novel explicitly cognizant this was the focus of the story. I have been aware of the “comfort women” of World War II for some time. I felt a sense of social responsibility to read this novel and educate myself further, so the history doesn’t become buried (as the Japanese tried to do for decades). While the subject matter is horrifying and difficult to stomach, the narrative is compelling, redemptive, and even healing. Author Mary Lynn Bracht sends a clear message to readers and all victims of assault and abuse that nothing inflicted on the physical body can detract from one’s worth as a human being.

6 | Sophie Scholl and the White Rose

Annette Dumbach & Jud Newborn

In 1942 Munich during the height of the Third Reich, a group of five university students – among them Sophie Scholl and her older brother, Hans – and their professor come together to clandestinely print and distribute leaflets of resistance to the Nazi regime. The punishment, if they are caught, is death on the guillotine. Despite the minimal impact of the leaflets compared to the extraordinary risk, the group of resistors calling themselves the White Rose, not content to sit idly by and do nothing as the Nazis destroy millions of lives, are prepared to lay down their lives for the cause.

In my opinion, this work of non-fiction is mistitled. Sophie Scholl has somehow eclipsed the fame of the others in the White Rose organization while not even being the main character in her own presumed biography. She certainly deserves credit for her role in the resistance to Nazi oppression. Caught distributing leaflets with Hans at the University of Munich, she refused to accept her lawyer’s insistence that she must have been misled by her brother, a plea which could have spared her from execution. She in fact claimed all responsibility along with her brother to try shielding others from arrest. However, the narrative of this book belongs mostly to Hans Scholl, who had been to the frontlines as a soldier, experiencing the horrors of war first-hand. He returned to Germany with a fire of defiance burning in his heart, determined to set into motion some form of resistance. While the authors recount the lives of everyone in the White Rose organization, Hans was undoubtedly the catalyst of the group and should have been included in the title.

Once I understood I was not reading a biography of Sophie Scholl, I reframed my perspective and came to appreciate the temerity this group of students had to stand up to one of the most terrifying, brutal dictatorships in history. Their whole lives ahead of them, five young adults looked beyond their own brief existence and felt the legacy of the movement was worth more than one individual life. They were at peace with the realization there was freedom in death. Their small, seemingly insignificant resistance was more meaningful and far-reaching than they likely ever imagined. The number of printed leaflets were few, but after the executions, the White Rose grew in fame, and the papers made their way west across Germany and occupied Europe, were smuggled into Sweden and Switzerland, and were finally sent on to London. Allied planes dropped copies of their writings throughout Germany, reaching a far greater number of people after their deaths than they could have managed while they lived. Those who saw the leaflets were given hope that they were not alone, that others inside the heart of Nazi Germany still had a conscience and were not waiting out the war in complicit silence.

7 | Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need

Jessica Brody

Based on the original Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder, a guide to screenwriting, this how-to book outlines the basic plot beats necessary to every successful story structure. It also provides insight in the lesser-known novel genres (Whydunnit, Rites of Passage, Institutionalized, Superhero, Dude with a Problem, Fool Triumphant, Buddy Love, Out of the Bottle, Golden Fleece, and Monster in the House) and how to create characters suitable for each genre using examples from popular novels. Brody also offers helpful tips on pitching a book, along with writing log lines and synopses. And what, exactly, is “Save the Cat”? It is a writing mechanism used to introduce a character who may not initially be likeable. In order to get readers quickly invested in the character, having him or her do something selfless – such as saving a cat – shows how this person can’t be all bad and is worth rooting for.

As an aspiring novelist myself, this book was immensely helpful. It gave me confidence that while I have certain areas that need focus and refinement, many of my innate writing instincts have been on the right track. I highly recommend this to book to anyone interested in writing fiction.

8 | A Crane Among Wolves

June Hur

Set in 1506 Korea during the reign of the ruthless King Yeongsan, seventeen-year-old Iseul’s older sister is kidnapped and forced into the king’s ever-growing harem of concubines. Determined to rescue her sister, Iseul travels to the capital. On her journey, she crosses paths with the half-brother of the king, Prince Daehyun. Distraught by the corruption, debauchery, and bloodshed of his half-brother’s rule, Prince Daehyun is secretly plotting to overthrow him. Despite initial suspicion and contempt for one another, Iseul and Daehyun recognize their common goal in removing the cruel king from power. They join forces to launch a dangerous coup that must succeed, or they will face certain death.

I first heard of King Yeongsan (known in life by his personal name Yi Yung, posthumously as Yeongsangun) in the 2017 Korean drama Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People, a Robin Hood retelling of sorts. At the time, I was new to Korean history and only later discovered the series was based on the reign of a real-life king of the Joseon dynasty who is often considered the worst tyrant in Korean history. He instigated two bloody political purges and captured hundreds of women from all over the country to serve as palace entertainers. He closed the royal university, Sungkyunkwan, to use as his personal pleasure grounds. He also banned the use of, teaching of, and learning of Hangul – the simplified writing system of Korean characters used today – on threat of execution to suppress free speech and the education of the people.

This Young Adult novel includes adventure, palace intrigue, and a dash of star-crossed romance. It reads like a dark, atmospheric historical K-drama. Which isn’t surprising, as I’ve listened to author June Hur on an episode of the Dramas Over Flowers podcast discuss her debut novel The Silence of Bones and how Korean mystery dramas have influenced her writing.

9 | The Mountains Sing

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

After withstanding starvation during the Great Hunger of 1944-1945 in Vietnam, the once noble landowning Trần family is cast out from its ancestral home during the Land Reform of the 1950s. The Trầns must flee and survive as peasants under a new Communist regime. The family is then threatened to be torn apart as they fall on opposing sides of the Vietnam war. Spanning multiple generations, the women of the Trần family remain resilient and hopeful one day their country will heal from decades of hostilities and finally be at peace.

The Mountains Sing is a fictional sweeping generational saga of one family throughout 20th-century Vietnamese history, from the colonial era of French and Japanese rule of the 1930s and 40s, to the Vietnam War of the 1950s through the 1970s, to the 21st century. Rich in cultural details and the Vietnamese language, this novel represents a unique voice from within the author’s country of birth. I’ve read criticism of the author’s choice to write this novel in English as her second language, rather than writing in her native Vietnamese and using a translator. I respect Nguyễn’s achievement of writing an entire book in a second language. Translations can be clunky and lose meaning. While the prose of this novel may not always be the most eloquent, I can appreciate the words used to tell the story are the ones the author chose. She shares her own experiences growing up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and blends real-life accounts of people who witnessed the atrocities and destruction of war into the narrative. The Mountains Sing is a painfully exquisite call for peace and understanding of other cultures and perspectives.

Other Five-Star Books Read This Year

(Previously reviewed in the “Remembering the Holocaust” blog post)

The Bielski Brothers by Peter Duffy

The Holocaust: A New History by Laurence Rees

Night by Elie Wiesel

Within These Walls of Sorrow by Amanda Barratt

2024 Publications Read & Ranked

1 | Daughters of Shandong

Eve J. Chung | 5 Stars

One of the most compelling historical novels I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Chung’s deep understanding of generational trauma and her beautiful conclusion stay with me to this day and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

2 | A Crane Among Wolves

June Hur | 5 Stars

Reliably outstanding, Hur yet again serves up another dark, tantalizing YA Korean historical novel on par with a binge-worthy K-drama.

3 | The Hunter

Tana French | 4 Stars

A slow-burn murder mystery set in rural Ireland featuring thoughtfully complex character studies. A brilliant follow-up to The Searcher.

4 | What Have You Done?

Shari Lapena  | 4 Stars

Lapena successfully delivers another riveting neighborhood murder suspense novel, this time with the tone of a true crime story.

5 | The Fury

Alex Michaelides | 4 Stars

A return to the unreliable narrator trope is once again successful in keeping the reader guessing who among the guests stranded on a private Greek island is the murderer, à la Michaelides’ debut suspense novel The Patient.

6 | The Fox Wife

Yangsze Choo | 4 Stars

An intriguing, atmospheric blend of early 20th-century Manchurian history and Chinese fox mythology, though lighter on the history and heavier on the mythology than would be my preference.

7 | Murder in Rose Hill (Gaslight Mystery #27)

Victoria Thompson | 4 Stars

Another solid entry in the cozy Gaslight Mystery series, set during turn-of-the-century New York City, exploring the dangers of patent medicines and the fatal consequences to one female journalist who tries to expose them.

8 | Unsinkable

Jenni L. Walsh | 3 Stars

A muddled dual narrative inspired by the real lives of Violet Jessup, a stewardess who survived both the Titanic and Britannic sinkings, and the women of the Special Operations Executive in France during World War II. Both stories would have been best served as standalone novels, as they deserved to be more fleshed out, and the connection between the two was almost nonexistent.

9 | Kill Her Twice

Stacey Lee | 3 Stars

A do-it-yourself YA murder investigation conducted by two Chinese American sisters set against the backdrop of 1930s Hollywood which questionably encourages the mindset one should not trust people of a different race.

10 | One Perfect Couple

Ruth Ware | 3 Stars

A reality dating show critique turned domestic abuse survival thriller. My least favorite of Ware’s normally engaging catalog of mystery/suspense novels.

11 | The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid #2.5)

Nita Prose | 3 Stars

A cute holiday novella for fans of the Molly the Maid series, devoid of any real mystery.

12 | End of Story

A.J. Finn | 2 Stars

A disappointing second thriller from A.J. Finn for those who were captivated by his debut novel The Woman in the Window. Slow pacing and a cringeworthy “twist” are the real killers of this story.

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